Principal Investigator(s):
United States Department of Commerce. Bureau of the Census

Summary:

Master Area Reference Files (MARFs) link geographic areas
with their respective numeric codes. This data collection comprises
preliminary data collected in a dress rehearsal census in the spring
of 1978 from all persons and housing units in Richmond City, Henrico
County, and Chesterfield County, Virginia. The purpose of the dress
rehearsal program was to use the planned final materials and
procedures in locations which simulated various conditions the
Bureau would face in the 1980 Census. The data file was prepared in
the same format as the 1980 Census MARF and was designed primarily
by programmers for developing their software for data retrieval. This
release of the MARF contains geographic items from Summary Tape File
1 (STF1), as well as population counts by race and Spanish origin, the
number of one-person households, the total number of housing units,
and the number of occupied and owner-occupied housing units.

Master Area Reference Files (MARFs) link geographic areas
with their respective numeric codes. This data collection comprises
preliminary data collected in a dress rehearsal census in the spring
of 1978 from all persons and housing units in Richmond City, Henrico
County, and Chesterfield County, Virginia. The purpose of the dress
rehearsal program was to use the planned final materials and
procedures in locations which simulated various conditions the
Bureau would face in the 1980 Census. The data file was prepared in
the same format as the 1980 Census MARF and was designed primarily
by programmers for developing their software for data retrieval. This
release of the MARF contains geographic items from Summary Tape File
1 (STF1), as well as population counts by race and Spanish origin, the
number of one-person households, the total number of housing units,
and the number of occupied and owner-occupied housing units.

Dataset(s)

Study Description

Citation

U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. CENSUS OF POPULATION AND HOUSING, 1980 [UNITED STATES]: MASTER AREA REFERENCE FILE (MARF): 1978 RICHMOND DRESS REHEARSAL. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census [producer], 1980. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2001. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR07850.v1

Universe:
All persons and housing units in Richmond City, Henrico
County, and Chesterfield County, Virginia in 1978.

Data Type(s):
census/enumeration data, and aggregate data

Data Collection Notes:

(1) The codebook is provided by ICPSR as a Portable
Document Format (PDF) file. The PDF file format was developed
by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF
reader software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information
on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided on the
ICPSR Web site. (2) This hierarchical file contains 720 records
and approximately 90 variables. There are seven possible records
types sequenced as follow: state, county, minor civil division
(MCD) or census county division (CCD), place or segment within
MCD/CCD or remainder of MCD/CCD, census tract or block numbering
area (BNA), block group (BG) or, for areas not block-numbered,
enumeration district (ED), and school district of ZIP-code area.
(3) This Master Area Reference File (MARF) is designed to be
the 1980 counterpart of the Master Enumeration District List
(MEDList) prepared for the 1970 Census. Only those materials and
procedures found to be unsatisfactory in the dress rehearsal were
revised for 1980. Users should note that there are analytical
limitations to the use of the dress rehearsal data. They may be of
some use in the study of the characteristics of the Richmond area,
but that use will be limited. One type of analytical limitation of
the dress rehearsal data is geographic. A second limitation results
from changes in the questionnaire between the Richmond Dress
Rehearsal and the 1980 Census. Users interested in all changes
should consult the section on questionnaire changes in the CENSUS
OF POPULATION AND HOUSING, 1980: SUMMARY TAPE FILE 1: 1978 RICHMOND
DRESS REHEARSAL TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION (ICPSR 7781).

Methodology

Sample:
All members of the family and unrelated individuals
residing in the same housing unit.